Saturday, November 28, 2015

What's on My Bench??

Hi.
I’m Anne-Marie Hildebrandt, of Lime in the Sky Designs. I’m primarily a
mom of two middle schoolers, a PhD student, and a musician - I perform, write,
record, and teach music- but I also love making things with my hands. In
2009, I opened Lime in the Sky Designs, my first Etsy shop. At first. I
worked mostly in semi-precious gems and sterling silver, but, I’m one of those
people who likes to change things up every so often. I’ve branched out into
fiber arts, upcycling, ceramics, and my recent obsession - polymer clay.
That’s what’s on my bench today!

Let’s
make a few pendants, shall we? I start with a little hunk of white clay.

Then
I work it in my hands until it’s soft.

Here
I’ve got a few different pendants in my baking dish, which happens to be one of
my latest ceramic pieces! I’m in experimentation mode right
now, so I’ve got a few different shapes and sizes.

If
you notice, in the back of the dish there are a couple of little houses with
colors on them. That’s another recent experiment - “painting” on baked
clay with tinted, transparent, liquid polymer clay. There are a few
in-progress pieces in that series lying on the bench right now…

But
let’s get these guys in the oven!

After
baking and cooling, the pendants get sanded. That’s when I work out any
“wrinkles” and unwanted marks.

And
now I carve and scratch some designs onto them. I’ve recently taken to
making pieces with musical themes. It’s kind of fun to mix my passions
up! I’ll let you know if I ever find out a way to make “jewelry
music.” ;-)

After
carving, I apply some heat-set paint…

…and
wipe it off.

A
little more sanding, and wah-lah. I like where this one is going!

Then
it’s back in the oven again to set the paint.

After
more baking and cooling, the pieces get their final sanding.

Then
comes the big decision… what will it become? A necklace. Short or
long? Strung on leather? Linen? Gold or silver? I think
an 18” oxidized silver ball chain will look nice. I make the clasp using
some little yellow Czech glass beads (I often like to add something a little
unexpected)…

oxidize
and polish the chain…

And
there we are.

Now
it gets to live with its siblings and get listed in my shop!

Remember, if you want to learn more about Anne-Marie, visit her shop LimeintheSky! Please return next week for another episode of What's on My Bench??

ANNE-MARIE!This was really fascinating. I have never seen the process of polymer clay in action. Thank you for sharing.It is also great to hear about all the other, many facets of your life. You are a busy, truly talented woman!